What Does Saved Mean?

Just what is it all about? It appears, in my reading of Acts, part of it was about escaping that “present warped generation”. This was all before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD.

Acts 2:32-40

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Jesus said all who believed Him would have life in that age – His life, basically. And that if they listened to Him, they would escape destruction. And they did. Most believers escaped Jerusalem during an unexplained lull in the Roman siege. But what does that mean to us?

The promise, upon believing, is His life. And the Holy Spirit. For the age. We are really in the last age, which came when their present age, the Jewish age, was over. It was over by 70 AD.

Early apostolic leaders, after the original apostles had died, stated they were in the last age (or the age to come, from the NT writers’ perspective). And if I could remember who said it, I’d give the references. But no matter. The previous age is clearly over.

So, could our terms, “saved” and “born again” be misleading? Is the idea of being saved really a Jewish concept? I think it is. We are one with God by virtue of His love for us. This is the good news that Jesus brought to light for the whole world.